Bless the Lord o my soul and forget not all His benefits!
I was reminded of something last week that God had spoken to my heart, several years ago. (God will sometimes remind you of things that He has spoken to you in the past, to encourage you to keep moving towards your future).
But anyway, I was living in Virginia at the time (and I shared this with a couple of people before, but it's a good reminder).... Our children had this small inflatable pool.. I'm sure you know the kind, you can buy them at Wal-Mart and you can inflate them and it is just the right size for a couple of little ones up to about 7-8. But we had this pool in the backyard and normally we cover it up or empty it when it wasn't in use. But this particular time we had not done so.
I was in my bathroom at the time, praying, (yeah, wherever I could find a quiet place, that's was my prayer closet). And I was praying and asking the Lord for a breakthrough. I was tired, tired of being broke, tired of fighting, just tired of the way it appeared to be going. And I really felt like giving up. (Giving up is NEVER the solution to a problem, no matter how you choose to do so.. your problem will remain unless you deal with it). But this is how I felt at the time. And all of a sudden I heard this whimpering. I can't even explain what it sounded like, but it was like a crying out. And it was very faint. I got up, looked out my bathroom window and there in the pool was a squirrel. Somehow I guess he had fallen in the water and he was frantically trying to get out. But he couldn't!
I ran out of the bathroom and got my husband and told him about the squirrel, and said, "We got to help him. We got to help him. He's drowning." My husband then tried to get that squirrel out of the water. He tried putting a stick in the water to help the squirrel jump out, he tried cornering the squirrel to give him the ability to ease out over one spot of the pool to get out, and he tried draining some of the water out. But fear, hopelessness and frustration was all over the squirrel and all he kept doing was crying. He didn't know we were trying to help him. Eventually, my husband figured out a way to get him out and the squirrel ran off soaking wet but relieved.
As we went back in the house and I went back to my prayer closet I thought to myself that would have been a dreadful thing for my 6-year old son to see. (I was glad it was really early in the morning). I thanked God for allowing us to get that squirrel out of the water and to stop him from drowning. The poor squirrel was on the verge of drowning, and desperately crying out for help. And God made sure that I heard him.
And that is when God spoke to me. He said I may feel like I am drowning. He said, "it may feel like you are crying out and no one is hearing you. You may feel frustrated. You may feel hopeless. You may not even see how someone may be trying to help you. You may even be afraid, but I've got you. My eye is on you. I will not let you drown."
All I could do was cry. And as I did I thought about the song, His Eye Is On The Sparrow. And thought about the person that wrote that song, (I don't know who it was), and I know that they had to have an experience like this. That at some point in their life they felt like they could not go on, that they were crying out for help and nobody heard them. Nobody cared. But God.
He showed Himself. He showed them He cares. And He reminded them of how he watches over the birds of the air. So how much more does He watch over you? And I realize that it wasn't just a song. God's eye IS on the sparrow and I KNOW, He watches me.
Be blessed. Stay encouraged. Your help is on the way.
God is real and He loves you.
A servant of the Lord,
Sis. E
http://sis.e.home.comcast.net
http://www.ongoodground.org